


Damage Control

by chemically_imbalanced_romance



Series: The Witching Hour [4]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Cigarettes, Crying, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, Knives, M/M, Misgendering, Screaming, bad homelife mention, beer bottle mention, cursing, fear of murder, ghost au, hopelessness, it's a ghost au so there's some dead people, needle mention, not on purpose they just don't know yt, self deprecating thoughts, suicide comparison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 05:47:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20755313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chemically_imbalanced_romance/pseuds/chemically_imbalanced_romance
Summary: With Riley out of their loop, they're visible to everyone around them. Urban legends and videos on YouTube pop up, demonizing Riley and causing people- mostly drunk teenagers -to harass them during their "ghost hunts." They don't know how much they can take.((shitty summary, sorry. basically, people are assholes and riley is struggling, logan helps them through it. meanwhile, virgil is working on his sentience))





	Damage Control

**Author's Note:**

> A/n: Patton uses she/they pronouns, Deceit uses they/them pronouns

“You’re kidding, right?” 

The teenage boy shook his head. He had a cigarette between his fingers. “Nope. Heard it all from Mary.” 

“Mary’s always full of shit,” Izzi grumbled, kicking a stray rock. It sailed into the alley and clattered against the broken concrete. 

“Oh?” He smirked. “So you’ll go inside, then?” 

She glared up at him. “Yeah. I will.” 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Ellie said nervously. She was wrapped up in her winter coat, her pale face poking out of the hood. 

Adrian waved his hand dismissively. “She’ll be fine.” 

“If you really believe that stuff, you won’t let her in!” Ellie insisted. 

Adrian laughed while Izzi rolled her eyes in amusement. “What, do  _ you _ believe it?” 

She blushed and looked away. “I don’t know,” she mumbled. 

He stepped closer to her, tickling her sides. “You think the ghost of Riley Cornell is gonna get you?!” 

She shoved him off, his cigarette dropping to the ground. “Maybe!” 

“Come on, Ellie.” Izzi held out her hand. “We’ll go together.” She glared at Adrian. “There’s nothing to be scared of.” 

She pursed her lips, and then sighed. She took Izzi’s hand and let herself be led into the alley. 

Adrian raised his phone, and hit record. 

“ _ God _ ,” Ellie gasped, covering her nose, “what’s that  _ smell _ ?” 

“Don’t think about it.” 

Their sneakers sunk in spots where the concrete gave way to mud, in dirty puddles of rain water and muck. The ground was littered with cigarette butts and needles. As the girls approached the dumpster near the centre of the alley, backed up against the theatre wall, Ellie stopped and shook her head. 

She was suddenly stricken with fear, so strong she couldn’t move. 

“Ellie?” Izzi looked at her, concerned. “What’s wrong?” 

She just shook her head. She was too scared to speak. 

“Come on, there’s nothing there.” Izzi forced a chuckle, but Ellie was starting to freak her out. “Let’s finish this so we can rub it in his face. He’s just a stupid boy, he was trying to scare us.” 

She started walking again, and Ellie shook her head. She squeezed her eyes shut. “No,” she choked out. 

Izzi dropped her hand, inching forward. She got to the dumpster, rounded the corner, and- 

There was someone there. 

She only got a glimpse of the face, half covered in scales with a glowing eye, before she screamed and sprinted out of the alley. She pulled Ellie with her. Adrian burst out into laughter and recorded them running. 

“Put that down, you idiot!” Izzi snapped. Ellie had tears in her eyes. “There’s something in there!” 

Adrian laughed. “Oh, I’m  _ sure _ you saw something. What, did a leaf scare you?” 

Izzi clenched her fists, and screamed in frustration. She pushed Adrian as hard as he could, and he fell back into the alley, phone scattering behind him. 

“IZZI!” He jumped back up, rushing to make sure it wasn’t cracked. 

He pulled it out from under the dumpster, sighing in relief. He looked up, and- Two eyes stared back. One brown, one yellow, like a snake’s. 

He went white from fear. He booked it out of the alley, forgetting that they were recording. 

Riley listened to them leave, covering their head with their arms. They just wanted to be left alone. 

___ 

“We have a problem,” Logan said as he came down Roman’s basement stairs, Patton following close behind. 

Virgil was standing in the middle of the room, the furniture pushed out of the way, with a stack of books on his head. He glared up at them. 

“What are you doing?” Patton asked. 

Roman raised his phone, taking a picture. On screen showed a floating stack of books. “This is going to be  _ great _ for my Instagram.” 

“I gave the two of them some things to do to help Virgil practice his sentience,” Logan said. “I think things that require more concentration can help him progress faster. A little bit harder of an exercise, you know?” 

“FUCK!” The stack of books fell right through Virgil’s skull, sitting at the floor, occupying the same space as his feet. He stepped out of the way, and kicked one of them with all his might- It smacked against the wall and landed on the carpet. 

“Ex _ cuse _ me!” Roman gasped, picking it up. “This is an exclusive, I’ll have you know!” 

Virgil growled. 

“Maybe we can take a break,” Patton said, opening up her arms. Virgil grumbled and snuggled into them. “Logan has something to show us, anyway.” 

They all crowded onto the couch, Patton with Virgil in her lap, Logan and Roman’s shoulders pressed together. They all leaned in as Logan pressed play on his phone. 

It was a YouTube video, posted anonymously and titled, “REAL monster found in the alley by the theatre!!!!” It was clearly posted for a specific audience, as the actual location wasn’t revealed. 

Curious, Roman pulled up the video on his phone, and scrolled down to the comment’s section. He recognized most of the names as people from their school, or with the same usernames as their Instagrams. 

“Shit,” Virgil said under his breath as the video showed Riley, fully visible and now on display. “You need to get this taken down.” 

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Me?” 

He shrugged. “If anyone here can learn how to hack, it’s you.” 

Logan scowled, shoving his phone in his pocket. “Right, while I work on  _ that _ ,” he rolled his eyes, “why don’t  _ you _ keep working on your sentience? We need to get Riley out of there. What progress have you made?” 

Virgil looked away. 

“Not much,” Roman admitted. “He still can’t leave the house. The farthest he can go is the front porch. We’ve been using your exercises, but, well- They aren’t really working.” His eyes widened. “I mean, they are! Just, not… Enough?” He blushed. He always sucked at talking to Logan. He loved the guy, but it was impossible to please him. 

Logan, though he was feeling significantly less motivated, looked to Patton. “And how have you been doing on your part?” 

“I’ve been trying… But he doesn’t trust me!” Patton looked guilty and embarrassed. “He won’t talk to me. I can’t even get him to stand up.” 

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked. 

“He’s just… Curled against the dumpster, hugging his knees. Sometimes when I go he won’t even raise his head!” 

“Right, well, I doubt videos like  _ these _ ,” Logan shook his phone, showing off the video they just watched and all the others that came up in the recommended, “are helping.” 

“So you’ll try to hack them?” Virgil asked, and Roman snorted. 

Logan looked at them flatly. “If it’s our only option.” He stood up, brushing his jeans down. “If you three could stay here and help Virgil work on his sentience, that’d be helpful.” 

Roman laughed. “And where are you going?” 

“Damage control.” 

“Are you sure you want to go back there, Lo?” Patton asked nervously. She squeezed Virgil’s waist. 

He held up his hand. “I’m sure. It wasn’t  _ that _ bad to watch. I’ve gotten over it.” 

Nobody believed that. 

“Well, I guess it’s all up to you, then!” Roman said, clapping his hands together. 

Right. “Isn’t it always?” Logan didn’t wait for a response, just left. 

Roman gathered up the books and straightened up, grinning. “Guess we better get back to work!” 

Virgil looked at the books in distaste. “I need coffee first.” And with that, he sunk out. 

Roman’s eyes widened. “HE CAN’T GO TRAMPING AROUND IN THE KITCHEN, MY PARENTS ARE HOME!” 

___ 

“Hey.” 

Riley didn’t move. 

Logan sat down next to them, so they were both hidden by the dumpster. 

“Did they show up today?” 

Riley hesitated, and then slowly nodded. They were hugging their knees, just like Patton said, their chin rested on them and their eyes downcast. 

“We’re working on getting those videos taken down,” he said, “so maybe people will stop coming around.” 

“Don’t bother.” 

Logan frowned in confusion. “What?” 

“It won’t work,” they mumbled. 

“Don’t you want to take the chance?” 

They shook their head. 

Okay. So that definitely wasn’t the way to get him to open up. Maybe a different direction… 

“Have we told you about our friend Virgil?” 

They snorted. “What, your ‘ghost friend?’” They wiggled their fingers a little, their only movement. “Ooooooo. I’m sure  _ he _ can help me.” 

That was  _ definitely _ the wrong direction. Shit. Shit. Fuck. 

Logan sighed. “Tell you what.” He spoke quietly. “When we get you out of here-  _ When _ -you can come back to my place.” 

Deceit raised an eyebrow, but didn’t move or look at him. 

“It’s better than this gross alley. And it’s  _ quiet _ . It’s really quiet. No one will bother you. And you can rest a few days before you meet Virgil.” 

They hesitated. “How long has Virgil been dead for?” 

Logan didn’t want to answer. “A while.” 

They laughed again, shaking their head. “You guys have no fucking idea what you’re doing, do you? I-” Their voice cracked, “I’m going to be here forever. Virgil can’t even leave his  _ house _ , how am I ever-?” 

They broke, and started sobbing, their body shaking. They buried their face in their knees, and Logan hesitated, before wrapping an arm around them. 

Before Roman and Patton, he never really had any physical affection. He just tried to think of what they would do. 

Finally, Logan made a right move. Did something good. Riley collapsed into his arms, burying their face in his chest as they sobbed, gripping him tightly. Logan wrapped them up tight in their arms, letting Riley let out all their fear and pain and stress. 

Riley eventually fell asleep, leaned against Logan’s chest. Well. He definitely couldn’t leave now. He reached around for his phone, plugged in his headphones, and put on a podcast. 

___

Logan found himself visiting Riley every day. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t  _ that _ beneficial. He could be working on learning how to hack, or helping Virgil with his sentience. 

But he didn’t. He visited Riley. 

He learned their pronouns, and what their favourite books were. He informed the others of their pronouns, and ordered Riley’s favourite books. Then, because Riley couldn’t hold them, Logan read to them. 

Every day. 

Eventually, he even started seeing them more than once. He would drop in to talk a few minutes before school, and skip lunch to read a chapter with them before heading back. Then he would go back after school, and stay with them until it got dark. 

When it started, Riley would normally fall asleep leaning against Logan, and jerk awake as their sentience failed and they fell right through him. 

That didn’t happen much anymore. 

“You’ve been spending quite some time with our dragon boy,” Roman said one night, while Virgil was trying to learn how to tie different knots. “Any progress?”

“Not a boy,” Logan reminded, eyes focused on Virgil’s frustrated fingers. “And… Not much. They’re able to keep up human contact, but otherwise, nothing new. Still can’t hold a book. I think I’ve gotten them to open up to me, though.” 

“Oh?” Roman’s eyes twinkled. “Human contact, eh? Opening up, eh? So what happened? How did they die?”

Logan just laughed. 

“Really?” He whined. “You’re not gonna tell me?!” 

“Not on your life.” Riley trusted him with that information. It wasn’t to be taken lightly. 

“I brought cookies!” Patton cried as they came into the room, holding a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They sat next to Virgil, taking away his rope and replacing it with a cookie instead. The bracelet on their wrist had returned to its usual green, instead of the pink they wore before. “What are we talking about?”

“Logan’s new boyfriend,” Roman teased. “Er, uh- Partner!” 

Logan rolled his eyes. “Riley is not my partner. They’re just my friend.”

“Ooh, big word comin’ from you,” Virgil said with his mouth full. “You sure you’re ready for that commitment?” 

Logan glared. “And what about you two?”

Patton and Virgil glanced between each other. “What about us?” Virgil asked. 

He waved his hand at them aggressively. “When are you going to, you know, date?!”

They both laughed. “We already are, cutie!” 

Logan blinked. Roman was laughing at him. “You are?”

“Since the day we met,” Virgil confirmed. 

“It was love at first sight,” Patton sung. 

Virgil smiled. He didn’t quite believe in love at first sight, but if that was how Patton felt, who was he to argue? 

“Whatever,” Logan huffed. 

“Not everyone dances around their feelings,” Roman teased. He knew Logan was touch starved, and had trouble expressing his emotions due to his suffocating home life, and he tried to be nice about it… But sometimes it was hard. 

“We should watch a movie tonight!” Patton smiled. 

“Normally I’d say yes,” Logan said, “but Virgil really needs to work on his sentience. Riley isn’t doing well there.”

“Okay, hold on,” Roman said. He looked uncharacteristically serious. “Say we do get Virgil up and about. What then? Is he gonna see Riley and immediately know how to help?”

Their eyes all fell to Virgil. 

He hesitated. “... No.” 

They were quiet. 

“But- But it could still help, right?” Patton asked nervously. 

“I mean, sure, it  _ could _ .” Virgil shrugged one shoulder. “But the only way to help them is for them to build up their own sentience.” 

“But they don’t  _ want _ to,” Logan insisted. 

“They’re like, ghost-suicidal!” Roman cried. 

“Yeah, well.” Virgil held up his hands. 

“We need something to motivate them,” Roman mumbled. “Logan, you aren’t enough?”

“Apparently not,” he grumbled. 

Roman looked at him guiltily. “That’s- That’s not what I meant. Just that, you two are getting close, and wouldn’t they want to spend more time with you? Wouldn’t they want to do it for you?” 

He shrugged. 

“Now, Roman,” Patton scolded, “romance isn’t everything. If Logan  _ was _ the only reason they were motivated to get better, I’d be worried!”

“I think it’s that they don’t think they  _ can _ ,” Logan said. “They don’t have any faith in themselves.” 

“Then we need to show them that they can!” Roman declared. “Which involves Virgil building his sentience, so he can float down Riley’s alley, and flaunt their ghostliness! Problem solved!” 

Logan wasn’t so sure that would work. But… He didn’t have another plan. So he stayed quiet. 

“We might not have too much time,” Virgil said. 

“What do you mean?” Logan asked. 

“Just, if they don’t make progress soon, they could… Regress.”

“Regress?” Patton frowned. “That doesn’t sound good.” 

“They’d go back into their loop, and we’d have to start from scratch. Only- Well, we wouldn’t be able to break them out again.” 

“ _ What? _ ” Roman whispered. 

Virgil was staring at his hands. “It’s like… How someone with dissociative identity disorder, their mind fractured after going through a trauma, to protect them. If Riley stays in this depressive state too long, the same thing will happen to them. Their spirit will lock them back into their loop, and not let them back out, to protect them.”

“How is that protecting them?!” Patton cried. They had tears in their eyes. 

“Because it’s easier to go through the same trauma than to experience new ones,” he said. 

Logan glared down at his lap. That… Would not happen. Not to Riley. 

“Lo?” Pat asked, sniffling. “Where are you going?” 

He grabbed his backpack, full of the books he had ordered for Riley. “Going to Riley.”

“Logan, that won’t help anything-”

He was already gone. 

___ 

Riley sniffled into their knees. The kids were throwing beer bottles at them. 

They had wandered in, drunk, and were now screaming about some monster. They were recording again. 

They were always recording. 

Every day, it got harder to hide. 

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” 

The kids looked back at Logan, who was glaring at them from the entrance. 

“Yeah?” One of them laughed. “The hell are you going to do?”

Logan pulled the knife out of his pocket. The same one he was carrying the day he met Riley. 

That was all it took for the kids to bow down. Logan’s knife glinted in the moonlight, his determined glare staring them down. They stumbled past him, but Logan grabbed one of their shoulders. 

He snatched the still-recording phone, and deleted the video off the device. He shoved it back in the boy’s hands. 

When they were gone, Logan pocketed the knife and knelt in front of Riley. He pulled Riley’s hands away from their face, and pulled them into his arms. 

“I hate it when you leave,” Riley spat, gripping onto him. “I hate it!” 

“I know,” he lied. “I know. Come on, stand up with me.” 

“What? Why? I can’t go anywhere.”

“Just stand up.”

They stood up, and Riley’s legs were shaking. 

“We have to get you out of here,” Logan said. “So I need you to  _ please _ work with me.” 

“Okay,” they whispered. 

“Hold out your hands.” 

Riley did so. Logan reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the books he bought, a thinner one. It was a very short collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. 

Riley’s eyes widened. They were so focused on the book, that they didn’t recognize Logan trying to gently settle it in their hands. Whenever it started to fall, Logan would catch it. 

Then, finally-  _ Finally _ -after a half hour of this, the book stayed. Only for a second, and they both fumbled before Logan caught it, but it stayed. They both saw it. 

Logan looked up and caught their eye, and they both grinned. 

They spent the rest of the night celebrating. Riley laid down with their head rested on Logan’s soft thighs as Logan read, his voice careful and soothing. 

“I hate it here,” Riley whispered as the sun touched the horizon. The sky was an ashy gray, peeks of fire coming up in the distance. “It’s so boring, and when it’s not boring, it’s terrifying. I’m so…  _ Scared _ , all the time.” They squeeze their eyes shut. “I keep thinking that he’ll come back, and kill me all over again. And I’ll have to start over.”

“That’ll never happen,” Logan promised. “It doesn’t even make any sense.” He brushed Riley’s hair back with his fingers. “We’ll get you out of here. We will.” 

“Logan,” Riley swallowed, “could you do something for me?”

Logan immediately got nervous. He wasn’t good at favours. He always did them wrong, somehow. 

“Could you leave the books with me?” 

He blinked. “Of course. Why?”

“So that you have to come back,” they said. “To get them. And so I can practice.” 

Logan blushed. He refrained from telling them that the books belonged to them. “Of course. I’ll be back tomorrow to help out. We can use some of the exercises I’ve been having Roman practice with Virgil.”

“Are they working?”

“... They haven’t, uh,  _ not _ worked yet. It’s too soon to tell.”

Riley smiled a little. “You’re the boss. You know more about this than I do.”

“That’s ironic,” he laughed. “Get some sleep. I don’t know what sleep deprivation can do to a ghost, but let’s not find out.” 

“Stay with me until I fall asleep,” they said, and it was almost an order. 

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll haunt you.”

He really hoped they would. 

___ 

Virgil was sitting in the kitchen while Roman’s mother cut up some lemons. 

It was dangerous. Not a smart move, really. He could go visible any minute now. He wasn’t anywhere near poltergeist level. 

But controlling his form was getting easier, and it was exhilarating. 

She scooped up the lemon slices and dropped them into the pitcher of tea she was making, and carried it outside. In the backyard, she and her husband were sitting on a picnic blanket while Roman painted on an easel he had set up back there. They were playing music and laughing and talking. Virgil longed to be a part of it. 

But he couldn’t get that far. 

He stood up and came around to the counter, picking up the knife Roman’s mother had left. He ran his finger along the blade and-

“Shit!” He snapped, dropping it. 

It cut him!

He snatched a paper towel and wrapped it around his finger as blood pooled out. It dampened the paper towel with red, and then disappeared. 

The doorbell rang and Virgil went to see who it was, grinning. He pulled the door open and yanked Patton inside. 

Patton squeaked. “Verge?”

“Look!” He shoved his finger in Patton’s face, ripping the paper towel off. 

Patton gasped. “Oh no, how did this happen? Are you okay?!” He inspected the cut carefully. 

“Patton, the knife cut me!” He sounded way too excited. 

Patton looked at him. “Uh… Yeah, babe. Does it hurt?”

“Yeah!” He grinned. 

Patton was so confused. “Sweetheart, I need some context.” 

“I’m a  _ ghost _ , Pat. I used to just sink through the floor! Knives shouldn’t be able to cut me!”

“Does this mean…?”

He grinned, nodding. "I'm getting more sentient."   



End file.
